But the American IFQ tournament was ruined by a host of late withdrawals, a situation that infuriated the many big names who failed to qualify from the high-quality field that assembled for the English IFQ event at Sunningdale.

The R&A's decision to allocate extra berths to these IFQ events had already annoyed traditionalists who prefer the time-honoured format of qualifying events held in the immediate vicinity of the championship course on the Sunday and Monday prior to the start of the Open.

The 32-year-old Leonard, who almost won a second Claret Jug in 1999 when he lost a play-off to Paul Lawrie at Carnoustie, said: "In 1995 and 1996 I was not exempt and made the trip over to qualify. I was able to qualify both times.

"I really feel like if you have the ability to try to qualify, you should.

"I learned in 1993 when I played as an amateur at Royal St George's how special the Open is and how much I wanted to be a part of it. I encourage guys to qualify every year."